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“Evaluator” Treated as Mediator for Purposes of Confidentiality in Ontario
April 4, 2013
An Ontario court considered whether an “evaluator” hired by the parties to assist in resolving a construction dispute should be treated as a mediator. One party argued that the process was not a true mediation, but the court looked at the essence to conclude that the process should be privileged and confidential as long as it involved a dispute in which litigation is contemplated and communications seeking to reach settlement were not intended to be disclosed to the court. Ledcor Constr. Ltd....
April 4, 2013
An Ontario court considered whether an “evaluator” hired by the parties to assist in resolving a construction dispute should be treated as a mediator. One party argued that the process was not a true mediation, but the court looked at the essence to conclude that the process should be privileged and confidential as long as it involved a dispute in which litigation is contemplated and communications seeking to reach settlement were not intended to be disclosed to the court. Ledcor Constr. Ltd....
How the Supreme Court Thwarted the Purpose of the Federal Arbitration Act
April 4, 2013
Jodi Wilson, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Legal Methods at the University of Memphis’ Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, has published a timely article entitled How the Supreme Court Thwarted the Purpose of the Federal Arbitration Act, Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2012; University of Memphis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 122. In the article, Professor Wilson discusses the policy behind the Federal Arbitration Act and critiques the high court’s decision...
April 4, 2013
Jodi Wilson, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Legal Methods at the University of Memphis’ Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, has published a timely article entitled How the Supreme Court Thwarted the Purpose of the Federal Arbitration Act, Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2012; University of Memphis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 122. In the article, Professor Wilson discusses the policy behind the Federal Arbitration Act and critiques the high court’s decision...
The Transformation of the Legal Profession and Legal Education
April 3, 2013
This article is by Professor E. Thomas Sullivan and is available at 46 Ind. L. Rev. 145 (2013). Professor Sullivan is President of U. of Vermont and former Chair of the ABA Section of Legal Education. From the introduction: For many years, critics have sounded the alarm that the pyramid structure of America's largest private law firms was not a financially sustainable model. This model may well have served the leadership and senior partners of the large law firms for many years, but no student...
April 3, 2013
This article is by Professor E. Thomas Sullivan and is available at 46 Ind. L. Rev. 145 (2013). Professor Sullivan is President of U. of Vermont and former Chair of the ABA Section of Legal Education. From the introduction: For many years, critics have sounded the alarm that the pyramid structure of America's largest private law firms was not a financially sustainable model. This model may well have served the leadership and senior partners of the large law firms for many years, but no student...
Federal Law Proposed to Require Warrants for GPS Data
April 3, 2013
Privacy of GPS data location in the US may improve if Congress passes the proposed bill that would require court-order search...
April 3, 2013
Privacy of GPS data location in the US may improve if Congress passes the proposed bill that would require court-order search...
Seiner on Weathering Wal-Mart
April 3, 2013
Joseph Seiner (South Carolina) has just posted on SSRN his article, Weathering Wal-Mart, which will be published in the Notre...
April 3, 2013
Joseph Seiner (South Carolina) has just posted on SSRN his article, Weathering Wal-Mart, which will be published in the Notre...
Reliance on Attorney Work Product Avoids Mediation Privilege Issue
April 3, 2013
The court did not reach whether a mediation privilege exists because it determined that affidavits and related documents...
April 3, 2013
The court did not reach whether a mediation privilege exists because it determined that affidavits and related documents...
What Judges Write When They Write About Mediation
April 3, 2013
Professor Jennifer W. Reynolds of the University of Oregon School of Law has published a thoughtful article entitled Judicial Reviews: What Judges Write When They Write About Mediation, Penn State Yearbook on Arbitration & Mediation, Vol. 5, 2013. In her publication, Professor Wilson discusses the role of mediation in the legal system from a judge’s perspective. Here is the abstract: Judges are uniquely positioned to comment on the phenomenon of court-connected mediation. Judges design...
April 3, 2013
Professor Jennifer W. Reynolds of the University of Oregon School of Law has published a thoughtful article entitled Judicial Reviews: What Judges Write When They Write About Mediation, Penn State Yearbook on Arbitration & Mediation, Vol. 5, 2013. In her publication, Professor Wilson discusses the role of mediation in the legal system from a judge’s perspective. Here is the abstract: Judges are uniquely positioned to comment on the phenomenon of court-connected mediation. Judges design...
Class Waiver and Fee-Splitting Provisions Not Unconscionable
April 2, 2013
A decision yesterday from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Muriithi v. Shuttle Express, Inc, No. 11-1445, April 1, 2013, rejected claims that an arbitration agreement was unconscionable with respect to both a provision waiving class arbitration and a provision mandating that the costs of the arbitration be shared equally between the parties. The Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision holding unconscionable and unenforceable an arbitration clause in an agreement between...
April 2, 2013
A decision yesterday from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Muriithi v. Shuttle Express, Inc, No. 11-1445, April 1, 2013, rejected claims that an arbitration agreement was unconscionable with respect to both a provision waiving class arbitration and a provision mandating that the costs of the arbitration be shared equally between the parties. The Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision holding unconscionable and unenforceable an arbitration clause in an agreement between...
You Have 2 Pokes, 53 Messages,12 Photo Tags and One….Summons?
April 2, 2013
Defendants in Texas could be served notice of a lawsuit through social media sites under state legislation introduced last week. Texas judges could offer that option if a defendant maintains a profile page on a social media site, regularly accesses the account and “could reasonably be expected to receive actual notice if the electronic communication were sent to the defendant’s account,” according to the bill text. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican who describes...
April 2, 2013
Defendants in Texas could be served notice of a lawsuit through social media sites under state legislation introduced last week. Texas judges could offer that option if a defendant maintains a profile page on a social media site, regularly accesses the account and “could reasonably be expected to receive actual notice if the electronic communication were sent to the defendant’s account,” according to the bill text. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican who describes...
Report: Predictive Coding Replaces Sanctions as the Big News in E-Discovery
April 2, 2013
For the last several years, year-end reports on e-discovery have highlighted sanctions as the lead headline. (For examples from this blog, see Report: Sanction Requests Rise But Awards Hold Steady for 2011 and E-Discovery Sanctions Reach an All-Time High, Survey Finds.) For 2012, however, a different story took the lead spot — the rise of predictive coding. Such is the conclusion of the 2012 Year-End Electronic Discovery and Information Law Update published by the law firm Gibson Dunn. In...
April 2, 2013
For the last several years, year-end reports on e-discovery have highlighted sanctions as the lead headline. (For examples from this blog, see Report: Sanction Requests Rise But Awards Hold Steady for 2011 and E-Discovery Sanctions Reach an All-Time High, Survey Finds.) For 2012, however, a different story took the lead spot — the rise of predictive coding. Such is the conclusion of the 2012 Year-End Electronic Discovery and Information Law Update published by the law firm Gibson Dunn. In...
